


A deal with Mr. Le Bail

by wolfish_willow



Category: Ready or Not (2019)
Genre: Demon Deals, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, POV Grace Le Domas, POV Third Person, Post-Movie, i think, in a subtle way, sort of badass Grace Le Domas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:47:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28309965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfish_willow/pseuds/wolfish_willow
Summary: A month or so after the events of the movie, Grace tries to make a bargain with Mr. Le Bail to get Daniel back.
Relationships: Daniel Le Domas & Grace Le Domas, Mr. Le Bail & Grace Le Domas
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29
Collections: fandomtrees





	A deal with Mr. Le Bail

**Author's Note:**

  * For [outruntheavalanche (badritual)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/badritual/gifts).



> Written for fandomtrees, which was such a lovely idea.
> 
> I worked with the prompt: Post-movie AU. Grace tries to make a bargain with Mr. Le Bail to save Daniel. Does it work?
> 
> I'm not sure this is what you had in mind (and I was maybe slightly influenced by one of your other prompts as well), but I hope you like it! First time actually writing for this fandom even though I absolutely love this movie.

When Grace agreed to marry Alex, she knew her life would change. She never expected how much. With the rest of the Le Domas family dead in some kind of explosion only she managed to escape—she didn't know how she wasn't in jail but she wasn't going to look at it too closely, she deserved a win—Grace was the sole owner of...everything. All her life she had wanted a family to belong to, a name that meant she was included with someone else.

She had the name, at least. 

And of course more money than she had ever imagined as a kid. The deal with Mr. Le Bail ended explosively, but it seemed it wasn't only demonic favor that kept the company afloat all these years. The associates that now kept her informed on her new businesses explained that some branches had taken a strange nosedive but she was more surprised that the entire thing hadn't gone up in flames the way the mansion had.

Now all of it was hers. 

The thought crossed her mind every now and then, when she looked at the empty space on her ring finger. Be careful what you wish for.

* * *

The card box survived the fire. Of course it did. Grace wasn't surprised when it was included in the short list of things they were able to salvage, after.

It had brought her more trouble, more fear, than she had ever before experienced. Her first reaction should have been to throw it out. Pull a Rose and toss the damn thing into the ocean or hell, just the first dumpster she found.

Instead, she held the box in her hands for a long, quiet moment, and brought it home with her.

* * *

Her new apartment was modest given the budget she had to work with, but far nicer than anywhere she had lived before. With a bedroom and more than decent kitchen area—especially for someone who didn't cook much in general—as well as a living space, it was probably too large for just one person. She liked having space, though. Room to move and more than just one door between her and the hallway. 

Sunlight poured in from the long windows, leaving the room bright and warm.

Despite never having anyone over, her dining table was large enough to seat four. It was round and glass with silver legs and she loved how very different it was than everything the Le Domas family had owned before.

Grace sat at her round glass dining table and tapped her nail against the top of the card box as she stared at nothing in particular. The sunlight never seemed to touch the box. It could have been all in her head but she thought it almost absorbed the light, leaving it the only dark spot in her otherwise bright space.

"Are you still…" she asked the empty room. One day she might even finish the question.

* * *

An oversized and heavier than it appeared envelope sat where she left it on the table after finding it in her mailbox. She didn't have to open it to know what was inside.

Wedding photos.

The sudden change of address must have delayed their delivery for some time. Of course, she had never been married before. For all she knew, it was supposed to take over a month before they were developed and ready to send off. The particulars had all been taken care of by Alex's family. All she cared about was marrying the man she loved.

They sat unopened for hours before Grace gave in. Ripping the envelope without the care she might have taken in another lifetime, some of the photos spilled out and fanned across the table. 

Grace saw a splash of green and white and closed her eyes against it. The wedding itself had become a blur, dream like in her memory in the wake of what happened that night. Just that brief glance at the grounds behind them had it all flooding back. She delicately massaged the tips of her fingers against her forehead.

One, two, three deep breaths later she lowered her hand and looked.

She drew in a quick breath at the unexpected sight of Daniel standing next to her. The misery shone so clearly through his sarcastic smile that it was a wonder she hadn't known something was wrong then. 

She was being ridiculous, of course. How could she have known it wasn't the money or booze or drugs that had him speaking out of the side of his mouth the entire photo session? Ritual sacrifice wouldn't cross most minds. 

Oh but seeing his face again brought with it not only memories of her wedding but of later. The head start he'd given her. Poisoning his family to save her. Dying for her. 

Not _just_ for her, she thought. To make up for the horror of his life, maybe. 

She traced the lines of his face. 

The card box seemed to pulse and Grace shoved the pictures off the table.

* * *

  


His face didn't leave her even once the pictures had been burned like the rest of her wedding mementos. 

  


* * *

A week.

One week, seven days, was all she managed to hold out before taking the box down from its shelf and setting it none too gently on her dining table. She took the seat directly across it and stared. As always, the light seemed hardly to touch it at all despite the beautiful sunny day outside.

"I know you're there."

The box did nothing. She sat straighter, glaring at it.

"I want to make a deal."

There was a flash like fire in the outline of a person sitting across from her. She had only gotten a brief glimpse of him in the mansion but it was all she needed to know this being was the same.

"Mr. Le Bail," she said with a sharp nod, not quite relaxing into the back of her seat but no longer so rigid. There was something like triumph alive in her chest. She hadn't been imagining things.

His outline gradually filled in until it seemed he was solid, but _not_. He was there but Grace thought if she dared reach out to touch him she would not find flesh and bone under her hand. Like his box, the sunlight didn't touch him. It was strange, how he could be so lit up and yet seem as though he was in darkness.

He nodded regally, eyes glinting orange. "Grace."

She swallowed. His voice was wrong, but not. Much like the rest of him. She heard a person but her heart thundered in her chest at the sound like her body was hearing, sensing, the unheard danger of what was behind it.

"Ask what you will."

Grace pressed her lips together. He sounded amused but there was still that something else that set her teeth even more on edge. She wondered if any of her _husband's_ family had ever heard him speak. Whether they would have continued his game if they had.

"Bring Daniel back," she told him without breaking eye contact. Her jaw ached.

"You can't get something for nothing." The amusement faded and goosebumps trailed down her arms. The hair stood up at the back of her neck. 

"I don't think I'm the only one who wants something."

His gaze sharpened, pinning her to her seat. "Oh?"

Swallowing again, Grace shook her head. She still didn't look away.

"The box belonged to you but I don't think you're attached to it like some sort of demon doll in a horror movie," she said. He raised one eyebrow. "If you didn't want something, you wouldn't be here right now. The Le Domas family is dead, the deal was done, right? No reason for you to stick around after that."

Her voice was surprisingly steady for how shaky she felt.

"I think you want someone to know who you are," she leaned over the table, "I think...I think you miss it."

His smile was sharp and cold and there was the illusion of teeth despite him not baring them.

"I think that bringing Daniel back would be a good start on getting it back."

"And if you're wrong? If that isn't enough? What are you willing to give?"

They had known each other less than a day. Most of that time he was a creep at best. An older brother who had no problem showing just how little he cared about anything except finding his next drink. 

He had also saved her life. Maybe he hadn't done it just for her. Maybe he was being selfish. Ending the bloodshed just so it would be _over_ , whether the curse ended up being real or not. Whatever his reasons, he betrayed his family and gave her as much of a chance to survive as he could. 

The man who was supposed to love her couldn't even manage that.

"You could have destroyed everything they had left," she mused, leaning back in her seat. "But the business is still going strong. And there was never an investigation despite me being the only survivor of what was obviously a bloodbath. I'm willing to bet I'm not wrong."

The room was silent but for her quiet breaths as they stared each other down. That silence was soon drowned out by rasping laughter. What should have been a pleasant sound was anything but, like the illusion had begun to fade.

"I see I made the right choice with you."

For the first time, Grace felt herself falter. "Choice for what?"

Mr. Le Bail smiled. 

"You'll see."

With a snap of his fingers, he flashed once more out of existence. Barely a blink later found Daniel beside her, wobbling precariously until she reached out to steady him. Grace mirrored his wide eyed stare, blood rushing in her ears.

Be careful what you wish for, she thought again as she wondered just what she had gotten herself into.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3


End file.
